The invention relates to thermal switches and more particularly to thermal switches operated by a bimetallic element. A wide variety of thermal switches operated by a bimetallic element are known. Typically the bimetallic element is captured between two members along the periphery of the element. This approach has been satisfactory for many applications. For many other applications such a construction is not wholly satisfactory. More particularly, such structures have required relatively large number of parts and a relatively great amount of labor to assemble.
It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus which requires less time to assemble.
Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which has a smaller number of parts than apparatus which has been used generally in the past.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an entire apparatus which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which will have an envelope which is configured so that the final assembly will be physically interchangeable with many thermal switches that had been previously available.